Restored by God

1 Peter 5:6–14 CSB
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. 8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. 11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.

12 Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

We have spent about 5 months talking about… suffering. Perhaps you now feel like you know what it means to suffer? lol

When looking at a topic like suffering it can be easy to focus on “me” – on my situation, on my persecution, on my sufferings. It can also be very easy, and it is probably even our natural tendency, to focus on negative things.

For instance

• Which do you hear more: people complaining about the weather or loving it?
• Who tends to leave online reviews, the people who had a good experience or a bad experience with a business?
• Why is there only 1 short story on the evening news that is positive and all the rest is negative?

I think the most approachable example of being negative about our circumstances is when you are driving, and in a hurry, and you get behind someone driving a little slower than the speed limit. Just slow enough to slow you down and just fast enough that you will be speeding to pass them. You start complaining about that driver, right? Obviously they know you are in a hurry and are driving that way just to make you late! How inconsiderate of them! Anyone who actually obeys the speed limits obviously doesn’t know how to drive and should probably not be on the roads.

We naturally focus on OUR world, our inconvenience, our schedule, our needs, our pain, and our comfort. But is that what life is all about? Even more to the point, is that what the Christian life is all about?

For some, it is. But for followers of Jesus, life is NOT about us.

Mark 12:30–31 CSB
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

These are the “two great commandments. Jesus talked about them and even said that if you keep these two commandments you keep all of God’s commands.

If the tow most important commands are to love God and love others, then life has very little to do with how I am affected by others, but how my life affects others. In the context of 1 Peter, it might mean how I treat those that persecute me. Do I love them? Do I bless them? Do I pray for them? Do they see Jesus in me?

It also means that I live for God and view my life by his standards and do my best to carry his name well. It means I live, work, play, eat – I do everything as if it was for God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 CSB
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

For you and me, the reality of life is that it is not meant to be lived for us, but for God and others. We have looked at how living for God might be suffering. We even talked about God testing us. But is that is the only thing we know about God from this letter?

• The subject of Peter’s letter is really not on suffering.
• The subject of Peter’s letter is really not about you or me.
• The primary subject of this Peter’s letter is God.

This morning, I want to take some time to reflect on how God is revealed in this letter.

Peter opened his letter this way:

1 Peter 1:3–4 CSB
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

From these verses we see that:

God is a merciful father

God has given us:

• new birth
• living hope
• eternal inheritance

He changes us by recreating us, he gives us hope to get through this life and an inheritance in the next.

He continues in the letter:

1 Peter 1:5–7 CSB
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

God is a powerful protector

God promises to guard and protect us until we are able to receive that inheritance. He has promised to guard us until we are with him and Jesus for all of eternity.

Later in the letter we read:

1 Peter 4:14–16 CSB
14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.

God is a generous provider

• he has given us his Spirit
• he gives us gifts to serve others with
• he has given us his name to take to the nations

So we are not left to flounder while we wait for our eternal inheritance, we have a helper, a talent and a mission. All of these come from God and marvelously fit into his plan.

What a tremendous insight into the God we follow.

• He is a merciful father
• He is a powerful protector
• He is a generous provider

When we think about who God is and what he has done for us, what should our response be? Well, Peter gave us some insight into that as well, and we looked it a little bit last week:

1 Peter 5:6 CSB
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

If God has done all of these things, then the only logical response is to humble ourselves under his mighty hand. What might it look like to be humble towards God?

• does it mean that we need to be beat up by the pastor every week hearing what awful sinners we are?
• does it mean we come to the realization that we are so unworthy and minuscule that there is no way God could use us?

No, I do not believe those are an accurate picture of who we are in Christ!

Humbling ourselves before God includes:

Allowing HIM to lead and direct. Where he leads me… I will follow. It is a simple lyric to sing, not to easy to live. But following God’s leading, even when we do not have all the answers, is one way to be humble. It is about trusting. That is the story of Abraham. That should be the story of each of us here.

Accepting who He made me to be. Not telling God he made a mistake when he made me. Not thinking that I am broken or junk because I have struggles or disadvantages that others do not have. You were hand-crafted by the Creator. Do not be arrogant by telling him that he made a mistake when he made you. And do not be arrogant by taking on false humility – thinking that you are not good enough for God to use. Accept who Go made you to be.

Accepting what HE has allowed to happen. Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people? (think Job, but what about others like the kids who got washed away in the floods in Texas?). Why does God allow evil leaders to remain in the church – why doesn’t he just take them out? (think of Caiaphas the high priest when Jesus was tried, and what about the modern snakes that lead God’s people into harm?) Humility means not telling God what he needs to do, but remembering that he has a strong hand and is in control.

Being content with what HE has given me. 1 Timothy 6:6–8 “6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.” I assure you, there is always someone that has more than you or something better than you. There is also someone who has less. The measure and value of a person is not in what they possess, but by whom they are possessed.

Choosing HIS definition of good and bad. Personally, I love this truth. It makes life so much easier – and so much harder! It is easier because what is true, right, honorable, just, and pure has already been defined. I do not have to make those decisions, so life is so much easier. There is right and wrong. There are absolute truths. I do not have to define those things, that has been done. I just need to stand firm on them. That, of course, is when it becomes hard.

Loving others the way God loves them. Each person is someone he created and Jesus died so they might be redeemed like you and me. Just as Jesus loves you and me and gave his life for us, we are to humble ourselves under God’s leadership and love others the way Jesus loves them.

LETS BE REAL -> This is HARD WORK!

When you think about living for God and others the way we just outlined, what words come to find? How does that make you feel?

• content, proud, humbled, fulfilled, satisfied… EXHAUSTED. And when you face persecution while living for others it can be even more exhausting.

And I believe that is why Peter closes his letter with this message of encouragement in his benediction:

1 Peter 5:10–11 CSB
10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. 11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.

First of all, I want to point out that only the things or people who are broken, beat up, dented, exhausted and too tired to stand need to be restored, established, strengthened and supported.

Have you ever felt broken, beat up, dented, exhausted, or unable to stand up? These are the very real effects of living for God in a fallen world. These are the battle scars or standing firm against the enemy.

One of the things that I love about the scriptures is that they do not paint an unrealistic picture of life. Life is hard. People try to distort scripture to promote prosperity or good feelings, but that can be dangerous. YES, we have a joy that is like no other. YES, we have a peace that surpasses all understanding. YES, we have life – and an abundant life at that!

However, we have those in the midst of hardships and trials, not because of their absence.

The reality of life is that we do get beat up at times. We can feel dented, broken, worn out, weak, unstable. This verse is not telling us that those things are sinful. This verse is affirming that we will feel that way!

There are 4 words that Peter uses to describe what God will do for those that endure:

Restore

καταρτίζω (katartizō) make adequate, furnish completely, make sufficient, hence, in some contexts, mend, restore

This is the same word for the disciples MENDING their nets. Peter, the author of this book, was a fisherman, and this word was used to describe when they would mend or fix or restore their nets back to working condition after catching fish.

Mark 1:19 ESV
19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

We will get worn out. Living against our own sin nature and against the prince of this world who wants to devour us will come at a cost. It will wear us out and cause some damage that will need to be repaired. Repair is another way we can understand this word— restoring someone by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken.

It is God’s pleasure to mend that which is broken, to mend us. We are not throwaways, we are mendable by God.

Establish

στηρίζω (stērizō) strengthen, make more firm, establish in a place

God will strengthen us and make us more firm. Does that mean my jelly-belly will become firm, six-pack abs? Of course not! So what does it mean to say that we will be established or made firm? When looking at the other places this word is used, it is almost always in the context of someone’s FAITH being strengthened.

Luke 22:32 CSB
32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Our faith will be tested, we studied that. Even the disciples who walked with Jesus for years had to have their faith strengthened, and were commanded to strengthen each other. However, in the end, God will establish our faith, make us more firm in our faith. That is one of the reasons God allows us to go through the trials.

Strengthen

σθενόω (sthenoō) make more able, strengthen, make strong

Another Peter word! This is the only place in the Bible this word appears. Apparently, it is also not found in any other Greek literature of the first century, so this is another “simonism”.

There are other words in the NT that share this root, but they all have a “a” in front of them – ἀσθενέω. They mean SICK or WEAK.

In many cases, the Greek prefix “a-” (or “an-” before vowels) means “not” or “without.” It’s used in both ancient Greek and modern English vocabulary derived from Greek.

• Atypical -> Not typical -> “a-” (not) + “typical
• Amoral -> Without morals -> “a-” (without) + “moral”

This prefix comes from the Greek “ἀ-” or “ἀν-“, which negates the word it precedes. Peter just took away the “a” and make a different word. Peter took the word for “sick” or “weak” and REMOVED the “a” to it to make it NOT SICK or NOT WEAK.

In other words, God will heal you. God will make you well. God will make you “not week” so he will “make you strong”. “Make you strong” is how the NIV puts it, and my Greek dictionary says, “make more able, strengthen”.

I broke a my foot playing soccer as an adult. I had 3 surgeries on it, weeks in casts and physical therapy. It was painful and not much fun. At one of my visits, the doctor looked at my x-rays and told me that the bone was all healed and it was now as strong as ever, and because of the way it was set, it was healthier than my other foot – because I have messed up feet!

This is what God says he will do – make what is weak, strong. Make what is sick, well.

Support

θεμελιόω (themelioō) lay a foundation, be established.

To establish is to make it so that you can weather the storms. This word is used about the wise man who built his house upon the rock. His house stood during the storms because if the foundation – it was established.

Matthew 7:25 CSB
25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

However, a house will decay and eventually it may collapse so that is on a temporary scenario. The same word is used to describe creation and how God established the earth:

Hebrews 1:10 CSB
10 And: In the beginning, Lord, you established the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands;

God created it, sustains it, and makes it firm. Multiple times in Peter’s letter we are told to stand firm. This time we are told that God will make us stand firm. It will no longer be an effort on our part, but God will establish us like he has the earth.

God himself

One of the phrases that struck me as I read these verses is:

1 Peter 5:10 “10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.”

Why did the word “himself” end up in our translations. It is in the CSB, NIV, CJB, ESV, LSB]

The same God who saved you, who called you, who gave his spirit to you, who gave you his name, and inheritance and a living hope, will HIMSELF restore you.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is going to bandage your wounds, heal you brokenness, restore your strength, and make you stand once again. Why would you NOT want to humble yourself and submit to the leadership of a king like that?

Just as God through Christ was responsible for the new life enjoyed in the present by the readers (1:3*), … so at the letter’s end the readers are reminded that their future is equally in God’s hands, who will prove as reliable in the future in providing for the Christians as he has been in the past. It is that knowledge that provides strength to endure whatever hardships a hostile culture may visit on the Christians.

~1 Peter: A Commentary on First Peter 5:6–11; Appropriate Conduct in Eschatological Suffering

Don’t give up! In a little while things will be better! THAT is the message Peter opened his letter with, and that he now closes this letter with:

1 Peter 1:5–6 CSB
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials

1 Peter 5:10 CSB
10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

God is a merciful father, a powerful protector, and a generous provider for those who humble themselves under his mighty hand. After we have suffered in this life for a little while, he himself will restore, establish, strengthen, and support us.

1 Peter 5:11 CSB
11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.